The hallway outside the meeting room was quiet, the faint hum of the office muffled by the thick glass walls. Hye-rin's hands shook as she clutched her notebook, replaying the meeting in her mind.
She'd spoken up. Against her will, against her fear, against her history with him and somehow, she hadn't been crushed.
She was almost at her desk when that deep, steady voice stopped her.
"Kang Hye-rin."
Her shoulders stiffened. Slowly, she turned.
Lee Joon-hyuk stood at the far end of the corridor, hands in his pockets, gaze sharp as ever. His presence filled the space, even though he hadn't moved.
"Sir?" she managed, her throat dry.
He walked toward her with unhurried steps, his eyes never leaving hers. When he stopped just in front of her, she could see her reflection in the polished surface of his suit buttons.
"You surprised me today," he said.
Hye-rin blinked. "…In the meeting?"
"Yes." His tone was flat, but there was a subtle shift in his expression. Not praise exactly more like curiosity. "You're bolder than I expected."
Her chest tightened. Was that supposed to be an insult? "I just said what I thought," she replied.
Joon-hyuk tilted his head slightly. "A dangerous habit. People who speak their mind don't last long in companies like this."
Hye-rin clenched her fists. "Better than staying silent and being treated like I don't exist."
The air between them thickened. His eyes locked onto hers, colder than winter, but beneath the surface… there was something else. Something fleeting.
For a moment, it felt like he wanted to say more. Something real.
But then he stepped aside, the wall back up around him. "Three days," he said, his voice clipped. "Don't disappoint me."
Hye-rin brushed past him quickly, her heart pounding so hard it hurt. She hated him. She hated the way he could still make her feel like the ground was slipping from under her.
And yet, no matter how much she told herself otherwise, a tiny voice in the back of her mind whispered that maybe, just maybe, this was only the beginning.